Well have to see how he's doing after the hormones kick in. My CSB: I was fantastic at martial arts when I was 11, but by 13 I was tripping over my own feet because of my growth spurt, took me 3 more years till I was back to full form again. Though theses days between the beer and the bad knee I could stand to lose about 10 or 15 lbs.

As there's currently no other soccer thread, I just want to celebrate that the MIGHTY Oxford United are having an excellent start to the 2013/14 League Two campaign. The MIGHTY ones are up 4-1 against Portsmouth at Grafton Park after 80 minutes.

That is a pretty huge thing. Some people probably forget that this is probably the best youth system in the entire world, producing around 100 current pro players in Europe, and let's not forget some of the amazing players that came out of their system.

Honestly, the kid has tons of talent, was way better than I was expecting when I clicked the view. It wasn't just a few fancy tricks, but he seems to be able to shoot, dribble, pass, has good vision, etc.

Part of me is hoping he will remember the US if he ever gets to the level of national team play as an adult. Obviously he is probably going to spend the next bulk of his life living in Spain, and will no doubt get Spanish citizenship as well, If he lives up to the potential, you might have both teams looking for him. It's his choice though, and I won't be mad if he ends up playing for Spain, couldn't really blame him. He is getting a huge opportunity there that he would have never gotten here plus there is all the prestige of playing with the Spanish side.

Anyway good luck to this kid, he really is talented and I hopes he makes it big. It would do wonders for the sport in our country to see an American going from such a prestigious system, to perhaps moving on to a big prestigious team. Right now, kids are seeing more appeal in basketball, baseball, football, because of the money, endorsements, etc. If this kind makes it to the top, kids will realize they could become stars and get all the fame playing this sport as well.

This isn't really the same as Freddy Adu. Adu signed a pro contract to MLS when he was young and I think they didn't properly teach him to translate his potential into the pro game, I think he would have become a much better player had he decided to go to Europe.

That's not really the same as signing for a Real Madrid youth academy. RM academy has been producing big name pro players for countless years.

Getting picked to join Real Madrid's system is kind of a big deal. Good luck to the kid. Hopefully, his passion for the game stays with him and he can develop into a player that can represent the USA in international play in the years to come.

LucklessWonder:As there's currently no other soccer thread, I just want to celebrate that the MIGHTY Oxford United are having an excellent start to the 2013/14 League Two campaign. The MIGHTY ones are up 4-1 against Portsmouth at Grafton Park after 80 minutes.

Pompey even scored first....

I heard the 3-1 halftime score on XM on the way into work today and thought "Luckless will be pleased with that."

BloodFireDeath:This isn't really the same as Freddy Adu. Adu signed a pro contract to MLS when he was young and I think they didn't properly teach him to translate his potential into the pro game, I think he would have become a much better player had he decided to go to Europe.

That's not really the same as signing for a Real Madrid youth academy. RM academy has been producing big name pro players for countless years.

When Adu went to Europe, he was shuffled down to the reserves because he didn't have the talent necessary to hack it over there and never had. Maybe things would've been different had he started there, but he could easily have flamed out like Donovan did at Leverkusen.

desertgeek:Getting picked to join Real Madrid's system is kind of a big deal. Good luck to the kid. Hopefully, his passion for the game stays with him and he can develop into a player that can represent the USA in international play in the years to come.

LucklessWonder: As there's currently no other soccer thread, I just want to celebrate that the MIGHTY Oxford United are having an excellent start to the 2013/14 League Two campaign. The MIGHTY ones are up 4-1 against Portsmouth at Grafton Park after 80 minutes.

Pompey even scored first....

I heard the 3-1 halftime score on XM on the way into work today and thought "Luckless will be pleased with that."

Sachbash:I thought it was widely agreed that Freddy Adu's Ghanian birth certificate was likely fake, and gave him couple year advantage when he was a kid.

I don't know about "agreed", but they don't push a student ahead two years in one go to make him qualify for varsity; they change the rules for varsity sports. He definitely hit the wall much earlier than expected, though.

Lifeless:Sachbash: I thought it was widely agreed that Freddy Adu's Ghanian birth certificate was likely fake, and gave him couple year advantage when he was a kid.

I don't know about "agreed", but they don't push a student ahead two years in one go to make him qualify for varsity; they change the rules for varsity sports. He definitely hit the wall much earlier than expected, though.

There's not even a mention of the age controversy on his wiki. I don't think it is a widely held belief outside of blogger forums that it was forged.

Lifeless:BloodFireDeath: This isn't really the same as Freddy Adu. Adu signed a pro contract to MLS when he was young and I think they didn't properly teach him to translate his potential into the pro game, I think he would have become a much better player had he decided to go to Europe.

That's not really the same as signing for a Real Madrid youth academy. RM academy has been producing big name pro players for countless years.

When Adu went to Europe, he was shuffled down to the reserves because he didn't have the talent necessary to hack it over there and never had. Maybe things would've been different had he started there, but he could easily have flamed out like Donovan did at Leverkusen.

Despite Donovan's Bundesliga let down, he's done quite well the few times he's done a winter loan over to Everton.

We have a kid there to, Ben Lederman, and he's actually tearing things up. However, I should note Giuseppe Rossi already went through La Masia and is a great player, but a horrible American. I hope he continues to be injured the rest of his career for turning his back on America. That goes for Subotic to.

Worth noting that Julian Green, a American/German from Bayern Munich's academy had a fantastic pre-season scoring something like eight goals under Pep Guardiola. Hoping he chooses to play for the U.S. and not Germany. (You have enough young, talented players Germany.)

Motogp69:We have a kid there to, Ben Lederman, and he's actually tearing things up. However, I should note Giuseppe Rossi already went through La Masia and is a great player, but a horrible American. I hope he continues to be injured the rest of his career for turning his back on America. That goes for Subotic to.

Subotic basically got told by Thomas Rongen, the U-20 coach at the time, that he'd never play for the US and dropped him from competitions. I don't blame Subotic for saying, "Well screw you then," and going to Serbia.

ADubs86:Motogp69: We have a kid there to, Ben Lederman, and he's actually tearing things up. However, I should note Giuseppe Rossi already went through La Masia and is a great player, but a horrible American. I hope he continues to be injured the rest of his career for turning his back on America. That goes for Subotic to.

Subotic basically got told by Thomas Rongen, the U-20 coach at the time, that he'd never play for the US and dropped him from competitions. I don't blame Subotic for saying, "Well screw you then," and going to Serbia.

I dislike Subotic a lot though, mostly because he's an arse and plays for BVB. I don't know what Florida did to him to make him so horrible, but I apologize.

Never fully understood the hate for Rossi, to be honest. His parents were born in Italy, he spoke Italian at home, and he spent his youth career at an Italian club. (Not La Masia. He's never been affiliated with Barcelona.)

KaisertheCoyote:ADubs86: Motogp69: We have a kid there to, Ben Lederman, and he's actually tearing things up. However, I should note Giuseppe Rossi already went through La Masia and is a great player, but a horrible American. I hope he continues to be injured the rest of his career for turning his back on America. That goes for Subotic to.

Subotic basically got told by Thomas Rongen, the U-20 coach at the time, that he'd never play for the US and dropped him from competitions. I don't blame Subotic for saying, "Well screw you then," and going to Serbia.

I dislike Subotic a lot though, mostly because he's an arse and plays for BVB. I don't know what Florida did to him to make him so horrible, but I apologize. I'm sorry

Never fully understood the hate for Rossi, to be honest. His parents were born in Italy, he spoke Italian at home, and he spent his youth career at an Italian club. (Not La Masia. He's never been affiliated with Barcelona.)